FOLKLORE & FAITH
--- Film about prehistory
--- Film about the mythology of Antiquity (i.e., Greek gods, dramatization of Homeric poems, etc.)
--- Film about religious history (based on either recorded historical events or fables arising from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc.)
--- Film about a folk hero
--- Film about either the Humanities (fine arts) or Sports figure/event

HEY, THEY WERE THERE, TOO!: A LOOK AT MARGINALIZED PEOPLES
(Focus on prominent figures from history and/or depictions of their minority group's oppression, etc.)
--- Film about Women's History
--- Film about Race Relations
--- Film about the LGBTQ Community
--- Film about Religious Minority
--- Film about Immigrants

TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY
--- Watch at least two movies about the same person/event where each movie is from a different perspective (1/2)
--- Watch at least two movies about the same person/event where each movie is from a different perspective (2/2)

WAR _/10
Watch at least five of the following ten War subcategories:

--- Anti-War film
--- Military Comedy
--- Prisoner of War/Escape film
--- Resistance Movement/Civilians film
--- Submarine film
--- War Spy
--- War film that was produced *during* that war
--- Film about war criminals
--- Film about veterans after the war (framing a "flashback" film doesn't count, so no Saving Private Ryan for this one)
--- Wartime propaganda film OR a film produced by the military

WESTERN _/10
Watch at least five of these ten Western subcategories:

--- The Union Pacific story. (The plot concerns construction of a railroad, a telegraph line, or some other type of modern technology or transportation.) Wagon train stories probably fall into this category.
--- The ranch story. (The plot concerns threats to the ranch from rustlers or large landowners attempting to force out the proper owners.)
--- The empire story. (The plot might involve building up a ranch empire or an oil empire from scratch, a classic rags-to-riches plot.)
--- The revenge story. (The plot often involves an elaborate chase and pursuit, but it may also include elements of the classic mystery story.)
--- The cavalry and Indian story. (The plot revolves around taming the wilderness for white settlers.)
--- The outlaw story. (The outlaw gangs dominate the action.)
--- The marshal story. (The lawman and his challenges drive the plot.)
--- "Export Western" - a Western not actually set in America. There have been numerous Westerns set in Australia, for instance. Samurai films could count for this, too, given the relationship between the two genres.
--- Western movie with a direct connection to a TV show, since Westerns were part of TV's golden age before the Space Generation
--- Neo-Western (i.e., a Western set in more contemporary times, to demonstrate the genre is still alive)

ZEITGEIST WILD CARDS
Because an argument can be made that some movies which fall outside the "obvious" scope of our challenge really are consistent with its spirit, you're permitted to watch and check off up to three optional movies of your choice.
--- Zeitgeist Wild Card #1
--- Zeitgeist Wild Card #2
--- Zeitgeist Wild Card #3[/QUOTE]

I was browsing Crunchyroll, and saw that The Rose Of Versailles was on there, so I decided to sample the first episode. I have to say I was impressed, and I could see myself watching more episodes of that series, as I enjoyed it.

That's a great series. I finished watching it last year during either the Historical Challenge or the Animation Challenge. Thanks to this series I went on a tour of Versailles during my trip to Paris.

That's a great series. I finished watching it last year during either the Historical Challenge or the Animation Challenge. Thanks to this series I went on a tour of Versailles during my trip to Paris.

I agree with you from what I've seen so far. I've gotten 4 or 5 episodes in so far, and every episode just seems to draw me in even more, with all of the court intrigue between Marie Antoinette, and Madame Du Barry.

I finished WWII in HD. Telling the story of WWII in 10 short (~44 min) segments just doesn't work well. It's like the Reader's Digest condensation of the Reader's Digest story of WWII (a double condensation). The series *does* have some interesting footage and it's nice to see color footage. It just wasn't well produced.

I then watched the "Bonus Features" of "Finding the Footage" and "Preserving the Footage." I was slightly horrified at the "preservation" techniques they showed. Cleaning the film consisted of someone running the film between layers of a saturated cloth held between fingers! To capture the film it was *projected* on a screen with a 2K camera simply pointed at that screen! I'm no preservationist but from what I *do* know that's not a proper way to clean or capture such images. That the film looks as good as it does is simply amazing considering those techniques.

The bonus video profiling the living participants was the best part of the production. This was a ~15 piece with around 3 minutes each of the gentlemen who told their stories for the main production. In this one you got to hear them speak fully - no voice actor taking their place. Very interesting stuff with information that wasn't included in the main program. They still had that annoying, generic, History Channel soundtrack stuff under their voices but it was mostly easily ignored.

Watched Ron Howard's The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years. Man, you think you know everything there is to know about the Beatles but this one shows that you never can! Stood up against segregation, toured until they were ready to drop, and made amazing music in between. Great doc!

While I greatly enjoyed the documentary, I got nothing new from it, but I grew up during those years and saw it all first hand. It's a very good overall view of their early career as a group for us "old timers" and serves as a good primer for people just getting started with the group. IMHO it's one of the best productions Howard has done. I want my oldest granddaughter (age 10) to see it as she's recently become interested in The Beatles and has fallen in love with their music.

If you've never seen Anthology you should seek it out and give it a viewing. It goes deeper into what was happening during each phase of their years together. It's a excellent mini-series.

Which version? There's one from 1939 which features The Ritz Brothers and tries to be more comedy than action/adventure. It fails simply because The Ritz Brothers just aren't that funny, at least not in that film.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadokitty

The 1993 version, with Tim Curry as Cardinal Richilieu. Maybe they figured it as comedy because of one liners between the Musketeers, I don't know.

The 1970s Richard Lester movies would probably qualify as comedy-adventure as well.

The one from 2011 is ridiculous but has some entertainment value. I might try to slip it in this month.

The 1970s Richard Lester movies would probably qualify as comedy-adventure as well.

The one from 2011 is ridiculous but has some entertainment value. I might try to slip it in this month.

All of them that I've seen do to some extent. Even my favorite - the 1948 version with Gene Kelly.

I'm a sucker for that story and have a copy of just about every filmed version available... but not that 2011 one (or the Disney w/Mickey Mouse for that matter). I've had a copy of the 2011 in my Amazon cart for some time but just haven't pulled the trigger.

I have a copy of the recent TV series - a complete blind buy - now would be a good time to get it out and give it a screening...

While watching The Twilight Zone, on MeTV tonight, I found another episode that counts for this Challenge, 'The Odyssey Of Flight 33'. It's about an airliner that gets caught in a jet stream, and ends up in the past, and the crew tries to get back to their own time.

All of them that I've seen do to some extent. Even my favorite - the 1948 version with Gene Kelly.

I'm a sucker for that story and have a copy of just about every filmed version available... but not that 2011 one (or the Disney w/Mickey Mouse for that matter). I've had a copy of the 2011 in my Amazon cart for some time but just haven't pulled the trigger.

I have a copy of the recent TV series - a complete blind buy - now would be a good time to get it out and give it a screening...

I have yet to see a Musketeer movie I really like. The 2011 one is awful. Not a fan of the 1948 one at all, it's like two different movies awkwardly edited together--a Gene Kelly swashbuckler and a Lana Turner costume melodrama. I remember kind of liking the 1935 version with Walter Abel as D'artagnan. THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1939) was pretty good and had Alan Hale as Porthos. The best version I've seen is AT SWORD'S POINT (1952) with the sons--and daughter--of D'artagnan and the Musketeers, with Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara starring and Alan Hale Jr. playing Porthos Jr. Wilde and Hale Jr. would reunite--as D'artagnan and Porthos--in THE FIFTH MUSKETEER (1979). So Alan Hale and Hale Jr. played father and son in different movies and the same role in different movies. Any other parent-and-child actors ever do that?

Bargain bins at Wal-Mart can be gold mines if one takes the time to look. I was at Wal-Mart a few days ago and picked up a few movies in the bargain bin. I just finished one of them, Big Miracle. As an animal lover, I loved the movie, as it was a true story, about the effort to free the gray whales in Alaska that were trapped by the ice back in the late 80s or early 90s. I forget exactly when it happened, but I do remember that being all over the news.

I've been watching some of my more recent purchases. A couple of days ago I finished the BBC mini-series The Nazis: A Warning from History. It is very well done and I learned a few new things. This one strictly focuses on the rise and fall of the Nazi party and features interviews with still living participants. It's obvious that many of them still feel the way they did in WWII but just as many showed remorse at what they'd allowed to be done. My grandson has shown an interest in the war and I want him to see this one first as it gives perspective that's missing from other presentations. In a way it presents many of the participants in a more sympathetic light without negating the horrors inflicted by Hitler and his followers illustrating how easy it is for a people to simply follow their leaders without speaking out against observed wrongs.

Me too. I enjoyed it. I was shocked at how unrepentant many of the german's were. I really liked the pre-rise to power part 1 since that is not as extensively covered as the war years

The ones who showed pride at having been a Nazi caught me off guard. You could see in the faces of many that they still hate the Jewish people and feel that what the Nazis did was not wrong. Even with an interviewer trying to get them to show at least a glimmer of remorse.

It also shows how easily properly presented propaganda can influence a nation's peoples and get them to do things they otherwise might not.

I was also surprised at just how few Gestapo agents there were. It was significantly less than I'd imagined. That they maintained control by making everyone an informant was telling as to the power they wielded.

I just watched the Japanese edit of Tora! Tora! Tora!. Until today I didn't know such a thing existed. I recently purchased a BR upgrade and watched it today. When I put the disc in, up pops a menu with choices of "Theatrical" or "Japanese edit" versions so I watch the Japanese edit. From what I read about this cut there are only a couple of scenes added with little else changed. It runs ~4 minutes longer than the theatrical cut. One scene I noticed without having to read about it - a couple of Japanese cooks discussing the International Date Line in a somewhat comedic manner. It's still my favorite film about the bombing of Pear Harbor.

I also watched my new BR upgrade of The Longest Day. Some of the early rear screen stuff still annoys me but it gets less frequent use as the film progresses. It's another favorite.

Watching both of those back-to-back, it struck me as how some of the mistakes the US leaders made in the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor were similar to those made by the Germans in the days lading up to D-Day. I'd never noticed that before.